Six new species of the subgenus Pseudoleirides (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Amara) from Iran

Abstract: The following six new species of the subgenus Pseudoleirides Kryzhanovskij, 1968 of the genus Amara Bonelli, 1810 from Iran are described, illustrated and compared with closely related species: A. (P.) escalerai sp. n., A. (P.) hamadanensis sp. n., A. (P.) kermanensis sp. n., A. (P.) khorramabadensis sp. n., A. (P.) shirazica sp. n., and A. (P.) yasujensis sp. n. The new species live in the mountains at 2000–4000 m a.s.l. (alpine occurrence is only supposed in A. shirazica sp. n.). The type series of the new species are small, only 1–5 specimens each. The specific name of A. (P.) loeffleri Jedlička, 1963 is restored from the subspecific to full species rank (status restitutus). All known Iranian species of the subgenus Pseudoleirides are reviewed and keyed.

Key words: Taxonomy, Coleoptera, Carabidae, Zabrini, Amara, new species, key, Palaearctic region